cluster

cluster,

in astronomy: see star clusterstar cluster,a group of stars near each other in space and resembling each other in certain characteristics that suggest a common origin for the group. Stars in the same cluster move at the same rate and in the same direction......Click the link for more information.; galaxygalaxy,large aggregation of stars, gas, and dust, typically containing billions of stars. Recognition that galaxies are independent star systems outside the Milky Way came from a study of the Andromeda Galaxy (1926–29) by Edwin P......Click the link for more information..

cluster

A group of stars whose members are sufficiently close to each other to be physically associated. Clusters range from dense congregations of many thousands of stars to loose groups of only a few stars. Current theories of stellar evolution suggest that stars form in associations, whose densest groupings remain bound as clusters while the other stars disperse; this view is supported by the relatively well-defined Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams of clusters, which indicate that cluster members are of essentially the same composition and age (see also turnoff point). Because the stars in a cluster are all at approximately the same distance, the observed differences in appearance are believed to be due mainly to differences in mass. An estimate of distance is obtained from the technique of main-sequence fitting. See globular cluster; open cluster.

Cluster

An ESA mission to study in three dimensions the shape and dynamic behavior of small-scale structures in the Earth's plasma environment. In effect, Cluster is examining ‘space weather’ – that is, the interaction between the particles of the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere. The mission consists of four identical 500-kg satellites, carrying the same 10 instruments. The satellites were carried into space in two pairs by Russian-made Soyuz rockets during the summer of 2000. The first pair, nicknamed Salsa and Samba, were launched July 16, followed by the second pair, Rumba and Tango, launched Aug. 9. The Cluster craft were scheduled to operate until 2005. The mission, which was designated Cluster II, was the replacement for an earlier failed mission. The original Cluster satellites were to have been sent into space together in June 1996, on an Ariane-5 rocket, but were destroyed when the rocket unexpectedly tilted and broke up soon after liftoff.

Cluster

Any configuration of elements that are grouped or gathered closely together.

cluster

In a clustered file, one of the classes into which records with similar sets of content identifiers are grouped.

A grouping of hardware devices in a distributed processing system.

A group of disk sectors that is treated as a single entity by the operating system

(engineering)

A pyrotechnic signal consisting of a group of stars or fireballs.

A grouping of rocket motors fastened together.

(ordnance)

A collection of small bombs held together by an adapter for dropping.

cluster

i. Several bomblets forming part of a bomb as in cluster bomb. Once a bomb is released from the aircraft, individual bomblets are dispensed by the bomb.ii. Two or more parachutes linked to support a single load.iii. Several engines controlled by a single throttle.

cluster

1.Astronomy an aggregation of stars or galaxies moving together through space

2.Chem

a. a chemical compound or molecule containing groups of metal atoms joined by metal-to-metal bonds

cluster

cluster

(file system)

An elementary unit of allocation of a disk
made up of one or more physical blocks.

A file is made up of a whole number of possibly
non-contiguous clusters. The cluster size is a tradeoff
between space efficiency (the bigger is the cluster, the
bigger is on the average the wasted space at the end of each
file) and the length of the FAT.

cluster

(2) Also called an "allocation unit" or "file allocation unit," it is a number of disk sectors treated as a unit. A cluster is the smallest unit of storage the operating system's file system can manage. That means if a 1KB file is stored in a system with a 32KB cluster (see table below), the 1KB file takes up 32KB of disk space.

Following are the cluster sizes for the FAT file systems for hard drives. When FAT32 came out, drive sizes were minuscule by today's standards, and the reduction of cluster size from 16KB and 32KB to 4KB** saved a lot of disk space for small files. See FAT, FAT32 and lost cluster.

Researcher Gregory Button analyzes the media's skewed handling of the cancer cluster case in Woburn, Massachusetts, and the low profile assigned to the victims by the popular book and movie A Civil Action.

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